


ice and adrenaline

by luckycalico



Category: Naruto
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-24
Updated: 2020-11-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 07:08:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27689396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/luckycalico/pseuds/luckycalico
Summary: “Uhm…” Sakura looked confused. “I don’t think you can really compare slalom skiing to the snowboard halfpipe. They're not the same sport.”“Here’s this,” Naruto huffed. “ Let's make a bet! Whoever does best in their event is the winner, and the other person, is the loser!”“Fine,” Sasuke said. “Loser.”“That’s a terrible bet,” Sakura said. “The winner doesn’t even get anything.”
Relationships: Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 14
Kudos: 51





	ice and adrenaline

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER: i do just be making shit up The author is not responsible for any misleading or untrue claims and information about winter sports and/or the country of Canada. 
> 
> This is my first time posting my writing anywhere. I wasn't going to originally but I spent a bit time on this and my friend thought I should. Thanks Erika!!
> 
> Thank you for reading this if you do :) It's silly but I hope you enjoy it.

Sasuke didn't even care about the olympics. He knew that made him sound pretentious, but it was the truth. The whole circus of it. It was too much. His father had gone on and on about what a _“great honor it is to represent your country on the world stage”_ and _“your duty as a citizen to make your nation proud”_. Whatever. All Sasuke needed was his skis strapped to his feet and 10 inches of fresh powder. 

Skiing didn’t pay the bills, however. It actually was a mega drain on funds. And skiing definitely didn’t pay for business class tickets to the best mountains in the world. So, though somewhat reluctantly, when he was offered a spot on Japan’s 2006 winter olympics team to Italy and all the sponsorships that it came with, yeah he was gonna take it. 

Four years had passed since then. Sasuke leaned his head on the thick plastic of the plane window while he waited for the gate to close. There was still time to get off. Was he really about to subject himself to this a second time? He could already feel the headache he was going to get from all the flashing cameras and stupid reporters shoving their mics in his face and screaming fans trying to get his attention. 

No, it was worth it. Skiing, in his opinion, was the closest a human could come to flying. After all, what was flying other than a controlled fall? The wind in his face, the adrenaline pumped speed, the thwack of the slalom gates - flying. Just him, completely focused, and the scrape of the ice.

“Sasuke?”

And the mountains in Vancouver. Maybe it was weird to have fantasies about mountains, but he’d been dreaming about this for months. 

“Uchiha Sasuke?” Someone was calling his name. Sasuke had learned to ignore his name being called in most situations since 2006. Who knew there were so many fans of men’s alpine skiing?

His brother Itachi told him that they don’t really care about skiing. _“People like when the athletes are young and cool,”_ He had said. _“It gives them someone to cheer for. You’re like Shaun White.”_

_“Hm. I don’t know who that is.”_ Sasuke had replied.

“Uchiha Sasuke? Hello?”

Sasuke peeled his forehead off the window and turned to see a giant orange fur lined puffer coat. 

“Oh my god, it is you!” The coat plopped down in the seat next to him and a head with spikey blonde hair appeared from beneath the fluffy hood. “I’m sitting in this seat, how cool is that? We’re sitting next to each other!”

Sasuke stared at him blankly. Great, they hadn’t even left Japan yet and the headache was already coming on. 

“I watched some of your races in Italy, you're amazing! I heard that you’ve even improved your time since then, which. I mean I can’t go to any of the local tournaments, too busy myself, but the news has been talking. I heard them say you’re the one to beat this year! Can you believe we’re going all the way to Canada? I’m a little nervous but I wanna try maple-” 

“Look.” Sasuke said, cutting him off. “Do you want an autograph or something?”

Blondie looked at him with big confused blue eyes. “Uhhm.. What?”

“I’m not interested in talking to a fan right now.” Sasuke snapped. “I need to sleep on this flight so I’m not completely jet-lagged for the next week so if you want an autograph I’ll give you one otherwise will you please shut up?”

The guy's mouth fell open. “WGh- W- I’m not a fan!” He exclaimed.

“Whatever.” Sasuke said. He pulled his headphones over his ears.

“Hey! That was so rude!” Blondie was still babbling. “YOU whatever! I don’t want to talk to you anyways. Bastard! I hope you get no sleep this whole time.” 

He pointedly turned away from Sasuke and started haphazardly pulling all sorts of snacks and candy out of his backpack. Sasuke sighed and leaned his head back against the window. This was going to be a long flight.

-

Blondie didn’t stick around long after the plane had touched down on Canadian soil. Sasuke was still sluggishly pulling himself out of his purgatory like plane slumber and the dude had already lept to his feet and was excitedly talking to a flight attendant. _Fucking weirdo._ Sasuke thought. Who still has energy after an 11 hour flight? 

The ride from the airport was a blur, and so was arriving at the Olympic village and the whole storm of reunions and interviews and tours and attention. _Remember, you get to ski._ Sasuke kept reminding himself through the headache. _It’s worth it._

In no time he found himself in the locker room where they kept the team before the opening ceremony. Sasuke leaned against the back wall and tried to tune out the excited chatter.

“You look like you’re about to fall asleep standing up,” Haruno Sakura said to his right. “Are you seriously fucking bored right now? What’s the matter with you?”

Sakura was a speed skater he had met in Italy. She seemed to think they were friends. 

“Hm.”

“It’s fun, c’mon! We’re in fucking Canada, about to march out in the fucking Olympic team dude. Could you please act like it's even a little better than being at a funeral?”

Suddenly he saw a suspiciously familiar head of spiky hair bobbing in the crowd. Damn, It was that blondie from the plane. He was talking to that freak with no eyebrows and a face tattoo on the curling team.

“Hm. So they just let anybody in here these days.” Sasuke muttered.

Blondie was leaning in for a warm looking hug. Sasuke made a mental note to tell face tat later that curling isn’t a real sport.

Sakura followed his line of sight. “Are you talking about Uzumaki Naruto? You know him?” 

“Um. No. Do you?” Sasuke replied.

“Um. Yes?!” Sakura was looking at him like he had two heads. “He’s that new snowboarding star that came out of nowhere and completely shattered the 2006 big air record at some indie tournament? He’s all anyone’s been talking about this year.”

“He’s a snowboarder? On this team?” 

“You seriously haven’t heard of him.” Sakura said in disbelief. 

“I don’t watch the news.”

“Yeah, I bet they don’t have cable at the rock you live under. HEY, NARUTO!” Sakura called out, waving her arms before Sasuke could stop her. 

Naruto’s head whipped around and his eyes lit up. “Sakura!” He called, hurrying over. “What’s up dude?” He said, scooping her into a big hug. “We’re in Canada!”

“Hell yeah we’re in Canada,” Sakura laughed as she pulled back. Naruto looked over and only then seemed to notice Sasuke standing there. 

The two glared silently for a beat. Sakura chuckled nervously. “Uhm… Naruto, this is Sasuke.”

“I know,” Naruto said without turning. Sasuke stared at him back. Since he’d lost his giant coat, it was easier to focus on his searing blue eyes, challenging now instead of excited. His tan skin contrasted starkly with the white of the team uniform jacket. He looked good. 

“So you're a snowboarder,” Sasuke said. 

Those attractive features scrunched up as he stuck his tongue out at Sasuke in a rather childish gesture. “Uh, yeah! And I’m way better than you!” 

Sasuke raised his eyebrows. He probably should apologise, if he was being honest with himself. Even he could admit that he was pretty rude on the plane. “I would hope so, since I don’t snowboard.” 

He watched as Naruto’s face lit up red. “I know that!” He sputtered. “That’s not what I meant!”

“Hm. I’m probably better at snowboarding than you too.” Sasuke couldn’t help it, there was something about Naruto that made him want to push back instead of dismiss. 

“HAH?? Are you dumb?” Naruto was rocking back and forth on his heels now. Sasuke held back a smirk. No, he wasn’t going to apologise. This was more fun. “Sakura, tell him how good I am at snowboarding. Tell him I’m better.” 

“Uhm…” Sakura looked confused. “I don’t think you can really compare slalom skiing to the snowboard halfpipe. They're not the same sport. I thought you guys didn’t know each other?”

“Here’s this,” Naruto huffed. “ Let's make a bet! Whoever does best in their event is the winner, and the other person, is the loser!”

“Fine,” Sasuke said. “Loser.”

“That’s a terrible bet,” Sakura said. “The winner doesn’t even get anything.”

“Okay, whoever does best in their event is the winner, and the loser has to do everything they say!” Naruto amended. 

“Whatever.” Sasuke didn’t know why he kept agreeing to this, he barely came here to participate in the olympics much less start making useless bets with obnoxious snowboarders. But as the announcement sounded out for them to start to prepare to walk for the opening ceremony, he found himself strangely excited for something other than skiing. 

The roar of the crowd in the stadium was already overwhelming, a sea of cacophony and energy that made Sasuke want to turn around and march back out.

“DAMN, ITS FUCKING LOUD IN HERE!!” Naruto shouted.

-

Something Sasuke loved about his event was that it was one of the first of the games, so that meant he got to ski right away and then had the rest of the time to do what he wanted.

Before long he found himself standing at the top of the slalom slope. The trail spread out in front of him like a dream, red stakes piercing the snow like arrows. 

The buzzer sounded. Everything blurred around him, the colors blending together and the sound of the crowd and the announcer fell away until it was just the wind howling in his ears. _Thwack._ The gate. Pivot. Align. _Thwack._ Gate. Pivot. Align. His skis barely skimmed the ice, he was hovering above the earth. He was flying. 

“UCHIHA SASUKE, 1:38.92!” The announcer sounded out. “THIS IS A PERSONAL BEST FOR UCHIHA, AND PUTS HIM JUST AHEAD IN RANKING FOR THIS EVENT.”

The world shuttered back into focus with perfect clarity. His head buzzed from the rush and everything around him moved in slow motion. He always felt like this after a run, as though if he wanted, he could stop and count the snowflakes as they fell. 

Sasuke skied a loop around the ring and then slid over to the exit where all the reporters were waiting. Their voices pooled together.

“Sasuke, how do you feel about beating your personal record?”

“Do you think you have enough of a lead to stay ahead?”

“Sasuke, do you have anything to say to your fans?”

He looked up and saw a flash of orange. Naruto was there watching him, past all the reporters. 

“Sasuke, what do you think of your time today?”

Their eyes met. Sasuke leaned into a random reporter's microphone. “I think,” he said staring into the daring sapphire eyes that were fixated right back on him, “That I just won a bet I made.” 

-

The lodge for the athletes was as loud and rambunctious as ever. Anywhere in the world, and the sounds of a mountain lodge would stay the same. People he didn’t know clapped him on the back, congratulating him on his medal, but the noise sounded indistinguishable. It wasn’t until a bright orange silhouette bounced up in front of him that he focused on anything.

“Hey!” Naruto said breathlessly. “Congrats, that was awesome!”

“Thanks.” Sasuke replied. 

Naruto pushed further into his personal space. “But don’t you be getting too confident! Just because you got the gold medal doesn’t mean you automatically win. I still have my thing coming up!” He sounded brash, but he was smiling. 

It was infectious, Sasuke felt a small smile creep onto his face as well. “Hm. I’m sure you’ll try your best.”

“I will!”

“Good.”

“Bastard.”

“Loser.”

“Do you wanna go out later?”

Sasuke was caught off guard. “What?” He said, struggling to keep a neutral expression. 

“Me and Sakura are going to this cool bar we found the other night again,” Naruto said. “Do you wanna come with us? It’s really fun.”

 _No._ “Okay.”

Naruto’s face lit up. 

-

After his event, Sasuke was free to do pretty much whatever he wanted, which of course was free skiing the mountain range the games were on. That’s the main reason he had come in the first place. However, he also surprisingly found himself getting pulled around by Naruto and Sakura to various Vancouver tourist traps.

It was so different from his time in Italy, where he had pretty much spent the entire time by himself on the mountain, but, as Naruto led them into yet another cheap souvenir shop, he had to begrudgingly admit to himself that it was nice to have the company.

-

Naruto’s event was later in the week. The half pipe stands were a lot bigger than the slalom stands, Sasuke had to push his way to the front in order to see and wait for Naruto’s run. He wasn’t particularly interested in watching other people do events - he’d rather do them himself. Especially snowboarders, he didn’t understand them much. _Do they really enjoy having both their legs strapped together?_

He needed to be here though, to watch Naruto. Because of their bet, of course.

Sasuke didn’t look up until the announcer called his name. He saw the traffic cone orange figure appear at the top of the slope and wave. _Idiot,_ He rolled his eyes. Snowboarders got to pick their own outfits under their number shirt, of course he had chosen to keep that orange monstrosity on for his official event.

Naruto pushed off the snow and confidently slid down, gaining speed as he approached the half pipe. 

He slid like a figure skater into the first jump. Sasuke didn’t know snowboarding could look so graceful. As he swirled into the air time seemed to slow down like he was moving through molasses until, at the peak of the jump, he hung suspended in the air as though for a split second he was frozen in time before dropping back to the earth.

His snowboard skimmed across the ice as he moved through the pipe into the next jump. Again as he shot into the air it was as though the touch of gravity had left him as he soared through the winter sky. This time the jump was more complex, spinning around multiple times as he levitated before the snowboard connected to the wall again. 

Sasuke realized he was holding his breath. Was this really the same Naruto he had watched spill an entire cup of hot chocolate on himself earlier in the lodge? Again and again he led the snowboard to glide nimbly through the halfpipe, pirouetting into the jumps like a dancer.

Eventually Naruto scraped into the end of the run and flopped down in the ring. He was laughing, his eyes closed and pure elation on his face.

“UZUMAKI NARUTO, JAPAN!” The announcer rang out. 

Naruto sat up and looked at the stands. Almost like magnets, his eyes connected with Sasuke’s and he started laughing again. To Sasuke’s mortification, Naruto brought his snow dusted hand up to his lips and dramatically blew him a kiss. 

“Loser”, Sasuke mumbled, though he felt his face heat up. He watched Naruto run off to the side of the ring to greet the people waiting for him before turning around and heading back to the main lodge.

-

Sasuke waited for some time to pass before he started looking around the large building for Naruto. He finally found him sitting on his own by a fire. Sasuke took the empty seat next to him.

“Hey,” He greeted him softly.

“Did you win?” Sasuke said.

Naruto looked puzzled. “I saw you there. You didn’t stick around for the rest of it?”

“You were the only one I wanted to see,” Sasuke said bluntly. 

Naruto blushed and looked away. “Uh, heh. I mean, yeah you did, obviously.” He moved his hands to cross and uncross his arms. “Well, no. About winning. I didn’t. There was this fucking American who got a perfect score, it was insane. I got silver in the end.” 

He turned to look back at the fire. 

The bustle of the busy lodge thrummed around them, the clack of equipment blending with excited chatter and shouts, but Naruto was sitting uncharacteristically still. It was then Sasuke realized that he had rarely seen Naruto by himself the whole games - he was always hanging around with Sakura or face tat or one of their other teammates causing a racket and acting obnoxious in one way or another. It was strange to see him so inanimate. 

“Are you upset?” Sasuke asked, surprising himself. He didn’t normally care to ask about other’s feelings. Mostly because he never knew how to reply when they answered. Naruto looked at him again. “That you didn’t win.”

“No, not about that really,” Naruto said. Sasuke waited. 

“About winning, I’d have liked to, but it just means I have to practice and get better for next time.” He paused again. 

“I guess… I guess I’m just sad it's over,” He finally said. He pulled at an orange buckle on his jacket. “It’s hard to… stop? Like, when I’m snowboarding I feel on top of the world. Hm. It’s like swoosh! And zoom! And I can fly! But when I get back to the ground everything seems... slower than it did before. I don’t know, if that makes sense or,”

“It does.” Sasuke said.

“Oh.” Naruto said. “Good.”

“Go buy me a hot chocolate.”

“What?”

“I won,” Sasuke said. “Our bet. I got the gold medal in my event, and you got silver. That makes me the winner and you the loser. So you have to do whatever I say.”

“Hey!” Naruto sat up, fire coming back into his expression. “This isn’t fair, we didn’t account for freakish Americans! I want a re-match!”

“Fine, but next time I’m betting money since I’m sure to win now.” Sasuke smirked as Naruto indignantly scrambled out of his seat. 

“Shut up, bastard! I’ll take all your money, fine by me. AND I’ll get you your damn hot chocolate, and it’ll be the best fucking hot chocolate you’ve ever had!”

-

The rest of the games went by as quickly as a slalom run. He passed the time free skiing in the area. He made Naruto buy him hot chocolate in the lodge. Naruto and Sakura dragged him to try maple candies, which Sasuke found disgusting but Naruto had liked so much he ate too many and got sick. It was fun, he found himself surprised to conclude. 

On the final night, he strapped his skis on one last time. 

“You're seriously not coming to any afterparties?” Sakura had bugged him. _But you can go to a party anywhere,_ was Sasuke’s reasoning. _You can only ski Canadian slopes in Canada._

Mountains at night were like another dimension. Night skiing had always been Sasuke’s favorite for that reason. The empty slopes seemed dusted with glitter instead of snow as they shone with the artificial trail lights and the moon, and the cold night air was so crisp it almost burned to breathe. The trees became dark depths of wilderness, indistinguishable and secret, trails cutting through like a scar. 

There were only a few people in line for the chairlift when Sasuke skied up. Most likely, everyone was inside somewhere warm celebrating the end of the games. Only the freaks would be out here in the below freezing night when the whole city was having a party. 

“Wanna ride up together?”

Sasuke didn’t have to turn to know who’s snowboard was scraping up beside him, but he did anyways. 

Naruto’s eyes sparkled as brightly as the snow. His tan cheeks were wind burned and red from the cold and his breath was white through his chapped lips. They split into a wide grin when their eyes met and Sasuke thought he looked as wild and otherworldly as the mountain. 

They sat in a comfortable silence for the first few minutes. The wind whistled around them. 

“I love the way it looks at night,” Naruto finally said. Sasuke looked over at him. He was staring out into the distance, a small smile on his face. “It’s… well. I don’t really know how to describe it. But it almost looks like a different place, ya know?” 

He knew. Naruto somehow always seemed to echo exactly how he felt; albeit in his roundabout, inarticulate fashion. Sasuke didn’t say what he was thinking out loud often, but Naruto seemed to understand him anyway. 

He turned to Sasuke. 

“I’m definitely gonna beat you next time.”

“Next olympics you mean.”

“Yeah,” Naruto said. “Four years is a long time. I’ll totally get better by then, you’ll see!”

Sasuke couldn’t help but smile. “Idiot. You remember we’re going back to the same country, right? I’ll definitely have time to beat you again between now and the next olympics.” His unspoken words lay underneath. _Can we see each other again?_

Surprise colored Naruto’s face for a moment, then he laughed. The sound rang out through the clear night air and swirled away in the wind. “You're on. I’ll definitely beat you all those times in between, too!”

Their shoulders were pressed together, the two person bench dangling a hundred feet in the air. Suspended, the din of the city was miles away. The only sound was the slow muffled creak of the lift and the rustle of the treetops, and the frozen stars seemed closer than the earth. 

Sasuke leaned forward and their lips touched. It tasted like ice and adrenaline. And it felt like flying.


End file.
